The Book of James: The Power, Politics, and Passion of LeBron

This thought-provoking study from Babb (A History of the African American Novel), an African American studies professor at Emory University, examines how race has shaped public perceptions of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. Babb contends that “white grievance” has made James the subject of racist attacks from the press and the public, who have caricatured him as a “Black jock out of his depth in political activism.” She recounts how photos of James reading The Godfather were greeted with derogatory tweets accusing him of being illiterate, which Babb suggests was part of a larger tendency to view “Black athletes as physical but not cerebral.” The author also traces how James found his political voice, noting that he declined to sit out games in protest of 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s killing at the hands of Cleveland police in 2012, but grew more outspoken over time about his support for liberal policies and founded the More Than a Vote organization in 2020 to advance ballot access for Black Americans. The prose can be overwrought at times (“The symbolism of Obama and James became its own version of a pick and roll, as politician and player set defensive screens only to shift and go for the basket”), but Babb’s astute analysis enlightens. This is a valuable contribution to the growing literature examining the intersection of professional sports and race in America. (Nov.)